Bella's Special Day

Today is Bella's last day as an only child. It's a little bittersweet. On one hand, I'm unbelieveably excited about adding Austin to our family. I can't wait to see his face. I wonder who he'll look like- will he be a boy version of Bella, or will Scott's genes show up more? Will he be laid back, or high-maintenance, like his big sister? On the other hand, part of me feels almost a little guilty for the way Bella's life is about to change. Jeez- just writing that makes me feel ridiculous. I know she'll be so excited to be a big sister. She's already looking forward to it. The other day she was resting her head on my belly and when she felt Austin move, she looked up at me and exclaimed "I think he likes me!"


In honor of her last day as the absolute center of our world, we decided to celebrate with her. Well, celebrate as best a 9 month very pregnant momma can :) Scott took the day off work to come along.



Bella and I started the day making rice krispie treats for a snack later in the day. Bella loves to help in the kitchen and she was very eager to help me make our snack. She even agreed to only eat 1 marshmallow before pouring them in the pan to melt. She's a good little helper!

After we got ready, we headed to the Wilmington zoo. It's a very small zoo, but that made for an easier day on me. We did the whole zoo in 2 hours. Another good thing about a small zoo was a small crowd and we could get so close to the animals. Some animals were a little too close for my comfort, but of course, Bella was fearless. She stood within a few feet of an alligator. At least she stood that close until I got too nervous and made her move, even though I'm sure the fence separating them would have certainly prevented the alligator from attacking :)

Here is one of the male lions we saw. We were that close- I took this picture without using zoom. I wasn't too comfortable being close to him, and I guess he sensed it. I actually got roared at.

Family shot. I can't believe I'm posting this picture online. I'm so freaking HUGE!!! Oh, and that's "Jack" the giraffe in the background.

One of the two bears. We bought peanuts and corn to feed to various animals throughout the zoo. This big guy was really fond of the peanuts.

Bella and daddy.

Bella and a sheep.

This zebra had a lot of facial hair. I don't know if that's normal or not since I've never been this close to a zebra before. Regardless, it looked kind of strange.

After the zoo, we had lunch at Chick-fil-a then headed home for a much needed nap- both for Bella and me. Even though we had made the rice krispie treats earlier, Bella opted for an ice cream cone for her snack.

We head to the hospital tomorrow morning. We have to be there at 9:30 and our c-section is scheduled for 11:30. I cried a little when I put Bella to bed tonight. She's so excited about meeting her brother tomorrow and so am I. She is looking forward to taking him the present she picked out for him. She doesn't know it, but Austin picked her out a little present as well :) I'm not sure when he had a chance to go shopping. Hopefully, things will be calm enough for me to have time to post about Austin's arrival soon.

Even though Bella is about to have to share the spotlight, I have a feeling that she'll still rule the house. Somehow I don't see her giving that up.